Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21).

How do we prove our love for Jesus? Is there a reward for loving obedience?
In the passage above we learn that the only way to prove we love Christ is by our obedience. We can give ourselves up to be burned, but, it wouldn’t mean that we love him. We could give all our possessions to the poor, but it still wouldn’t prove that we love him at all. The only way to prove we love Christ is by our obedience.

This is one of those commands that come with a promise. If we love him, he will love us and will show himself to us. That is an amazing promise. I hear about Christians who still doubt that they are saved. They have no assurance at all about their relationship with the Lord. They are not sure, if they were to die today, they will make it into heaven. But obedience to Christ comes with an amazing promise: He will manifest himself, make himself known to his children, those who obey him.

Here are ways He does that:
The Holy Spirit bears witness along with our human spirit that we are children of God

The Father lavishes and pours out upon us his love

John had his visions and revelations of Christ—when He was banished for the sake of Christ unto the isle Patmos.

When all men forsook Paul—then the Lord came to him, stood by him, and strengthened him!
the presence of Christ, and such a sweet sense of His love as has filled them with soul-ravishing joy!

Excerpt from John Stott’s “Three Challenges to the Contemporary church