The tradition, under the Law of Moses, to offer an animal sacrifice to the Lord is symbolic of the sacrifice of the Only-Begotten. But the Lord has declared, I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats (Isa 1:1). And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Sam 15:22). The Lord would much rather that we follow the example of the Son in our obedience and in offering our lives up unto God as the ultimate sacrifice that we can make. This implies a total sacrifice. It implies submitting ones will, entirely, to the will of the Father. It implies that our sacrifice and devotion to the Lord is more prized than life itself.
Neal A. Maxwell
"Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! (Ensign, May 1995, p. 68.)…
"The submission of one's will is placing on God's altar the only uniquely personal thing one has to place there. The many other things we 'give' are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. (If Thou Endure It Well, p. 54.)" (Cory H. Maxwell, The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, p. 293)