True sacrifice is in similitude of the Only Begotten of the Father, even Jesus Christ. When you sacrifice in similitude of Him, what you do helps you to understand Him because you are doing the kind of thing that He does. One of the ways you can know that a sacrifice is truly From God is that you will know him better as you do the kind of thing he does. What you do, your life and how you live and conduct yourself will itself, become a type or a shadow of the life of Christ. You might not see how when the sacrifice is initially asked, but as the events begin to unfold, and you continue to perform the sacrifice He asks of you, after much time it may be shown to you how “This [sacrifice] is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.” (LDS Moses 5:7)

The sacrifice that God truly asks of you is not merely to cause you pain or to suffer just to see if you will do something because he says so, in some universal game of “Simon says”. There is a point and specific purpose to the sacrifice that God truly asks. The sacrifice will change you to help you to personally know God in a way that you could never achieve otherwise.

By offering sacrifice that God truly asks of you, you become like the Only Begotten of the Father and come to know and understand His true character and the real nature of the sacrifice that He offered.

On the other hand, there are many others who will ask you to sacrifice in ways that can be very challenging but are not what God asks. Idols require their own form of sacrifice. And make no doubt about it, it is a sacrifice to do what they ask. It can hurt and be very painful to accomplish what they require.

Sacrificing unto idols can indeed be very real. In the process of doing so, you prove your faithfulness and loyalty to that idol and may be rewarded after the manner of that idol. By serving in this way, you may come to know and understand the man (the idol) that is requiring you to do this thing. So often that’s what an idol really is… because a dumb idol isn’t really speaking, so some man has to “interpret” what the idol requires. It may be simply what a man wants or from some nefarious source.

In contrast, when you offer true sacrifice to God, you come to know the only true and living God. How can a man otherwise know Him? Can a man know God when he has not served Him, by performing the sacrifice that God requires of Him? Can a man know God when he does not understand the thoughts and intents in the heart of God? If you do not know the thoughts and intents in God’s heart, it may be due to sacrifices being made that are not from him. Without such sacrifice to God, the thoughts and intents of God’s heart are not known, but God is a stranger. The thoughts and intents of God’s heart are far away. God remains a stranger indeed.

For an example of the kind of sacrifices that can be required of people that are not doing God’s will, check out the list that the Lord warns the people which a king will require of them in 1 Samuel 8:10-22. These things include many burdens that are very hard for people to bear in order to fulfill what their king requires. This includes a king taking their sons to be the king’s servants, to lead others in doing the king’s will, to drive his chariots, plow his fields, reap his harvest and to fight his battles. Their daughters will be used by the king to make his place beautiful and cook and bake as he requires. He will take one tenth of their goods to use for his purposes. In effect, they will be his slaves. After suffering under the burdens placed upon them, eventually they will cry to God to be delivered but will not be heard. Will it be a sacrifice to serve under a king? Absolutely! Serving the king will not bring the people nearer to God except as they wish to no longer serve him. Their thoughts and intents of their heart will be far from the thoughts and intents of God. Being so far, it will be a long, slow process to then understand God, which will be to them as God being slow to hear their cries.

This same kind of mindset is what Jesus faced among the Jews who were used to serving their leaders who required great sacrifices from the people. But Jesus chastens the Jewish leaders for the many hard things which they put on the people, ”For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” (KJV Matthew 23:4)

”Let us here observe that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” (Lectures on Faith 6:7) The sacrifice of Jesus is whole, total and complete. The sacrifice that God asks is like that. He can ask, “For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also, counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ,” (LoF 6:5).

Serving a man, or men, helps you to understand that man or men better but will damn your understanding of God because their requirements hedge up the way if you are truly seeking God’s kingdom and to serve your Heavenly King. Sacrifices that are from God reveal God’s true character as your sacrifice makes you like Him. You come to better understand the thoughts and intents of God’s heart by doing these things. Whom do you serve? To whom are you offering sacrifice?

Scripture examples of sacrifice to God and sacrifice to idols

This sacrifice is in similitude of the Only Begotten

“for they were shut out from his presence. And he gave unto them commandment that they should worship the Lord their God and should offer the firstlings of their flocks for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.”
”And after many days, an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying, Why do you offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him, I know not but the Lord commanded me. And then the angel spoke, saying, This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father who is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, you shall do all that you do in the name of the Son. And you shall repent and call upon God in the name of the Son for ever more.” (OC Genesis 3:2-3)

The sacrifice asked by the priests of Abraham’s father was an ultimate sacrifice, but not of God, thus it is a sacrifice to idols.

”they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto their dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my life by the hand of the priest of Elkkener;” (LDS Abraham 1:7)

The sacrifices asked by a king are great but shut up the way to God.

“So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (KJV 1 Samuel 8:10-22)”

Satan requires sacrifice that mimics but is not in similitude of the sacrifice of Christ.

“And Satan commanded him, saying, Make an offering unto the Lord. And in process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.”
“Now Satan knew this and it pleased him, and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And Satan desires to have you, and except you shall listen unto my commandments, I will deliver you up and it shall be unto you according to his desire.”(LDS Moses 5:18-23, OC Genesis 3:7-8)