Abraham and Isaacs Schuler Ravencraft

God one day instructs Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham obeys these orders and takes Isaac to the top of the mountain. After reaching the top of the mountain Isaac asks his father where the lamb is leading Abraham to replay with "The lord will provide the lamb". Abraham then ties Isaac up placing him on the stone altar. As he is about to sacrifice his son the lord calls out at Abraham telling him to stop and then a ram appears. An angel of the lord calls out saying, "swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

We are constantly making sacrifices. But what exactly is a true sacrifice? When I googled the definition of a "true sacrifice" I came across one I found particularly intriguing. It stated that true sacrifice is "an inner attitude of mind and heart based on real understanding of unity and harmony of the one divine life and law. It is the giving of oneself and service to all, on any and all plans, without any selfish motive." Think about it, how much of what we do is unselfish? We sacrifice money and time but is it all completely unselfish? I would say more than likely not. I know we want to say that we do something purely out of the goodness out of our hearts and maybe sometimes we do but I would say majority of the time, even if it is subconscious we expect something in return. That "something" we expect in return could be a credit for when you need help in the future or simply be the happiness that comes from seeing someone else happy and that's not exactly a bad thing. I would say however we never really meet the definition of a "true sacrifice". 
http://www.teosofia.com/Mumbai/7603sacrifice.html
http://christianity.about.com/od/Old-Testament/a/JZ-Sacrifice-Of-Isaac.htm