In Surah Nisaa, Allah says:
وَإِذاً لَّآتَيْنَاهُم مِّن لَّدُنَّـا أَجْراً عَظِيمًا
وَلَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ صِرَاطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا
Translation: If We had ordered them to sacrifice their lives or to leave their homes, very few of them would have done it. But if they had done what they were (actually) told, it would have been best for them, and would have gone farthest to strengthen their (faith). And We should then have given them from our presence a great reward. And We should have shown them the Straight Way. (Al-Quran, Surah Al-Nisaa, 4:66-68)1
These verses highlight the importance of sacrifice. As Muslims, we were not told to leave our homes or kill ourselves (such as the repentance perscribed for Bani Israeel–see Surah Baqarah). Had it been perscribed on us, few of us would have done it.
About the hadith of the Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) “Whoever gives something up for the sake of Allah, Allah replaces it with something better,” the scholars say the replacement could be in the dunya and the akhira. Subhanallah.
Although sacrifice seems like it isn’t in your best interests–you sacrifice your wealth, your time, your life, or something else–the results are that it strengthens eman and Allah rewards you for it.
When you sacrifice and see no results, rememeber: it’s for the sake of Allah, and the rewards are in the hereafter. Results are important, but don’t give up if you see no results.
Also, results should get you closer to Allah, not farther. If you find they don’t, Allahu ‘alim, it may be that your intentions are not 100% straight.
Wallahu ‘alim.
(1) Pickthall, Muhammad M., trans. Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem: Parallel Arabic text with English Translation. One Ummah Network. 28 Dec. 2005 <http://www.oneummah.net/quran/quran.html>.
Tafseer by Mawdudi, Sabooni, and Qutb.