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In explaining the sacrifices made by a believer, it is necessary first to define a sacrifice. In common language it means to give something up, or to do without something, for a cause. That cause is usually taken to be religious. What a sacrifice may consist of is less narrow and may range from sacrificing time to pray, sacrificing time and money to go to a place of worship on a sabbat day, giving moneyto the place of worship to meet its needs, or even going as far as ritual animal or human sacrifices. The belief is that a sacrifice will please the deity into granting what ever favour or preventing whatever ill the worshipper would like. What the individual chooses to sacrifice is a matter for them to decide, however, it is generally accepted that the value of the sacrificial item to the worshipper is important. A sacrifice of little value to the worshipper, such as a slice of bread to a billionaire, is unlikely to go any way to pleasing a deity, where as a few small coins to a pauper is a great sacrifice and should be expected to greatly please a god. Sacrifice is not to be seen as an obligation but as a way to be closer to or be rewarded by a god.
It is strangely true that in general a sacrifice has a purpose and is not an act of total selflessness. Those who sacrifice always ask for something in return for their devotion, the ancients sacrificed animals, and indeed humans, that the sun may rise or the annual rains fall, today in a similar act people pray to their god for a happy life, for peace or whatever else they want. Sacrifice is a form of commerce with god rather than a form of selfless giving. Indeed few selfless acts exist; if a person attempts to commit a selfless act they are being selfish in that they wish to show that they can be selfless or that those who claim differently are wrong. Human nature is important in the consideration of why selfishness is inexorable when considering human actions. Humans, though greatly evolved, are no more than animals in a biological sense and so have an innate desire for self-preservation. When considering their own life most animals, including humans, would rather that another being were to die than them self. The fact that people would aid others to die to prevent their own death is certain but not an absolute truth. Maternal or paternal instincts may lead to a parent laying down its life for the sake of its child.
This helps to explain personal reasons for sacrifice to some extent but in these later times there is another reason, although it is connected, social ascent over the centuries may be obtained by sacrificing better things than other members of the society or caste to which the worshipper belongs. From the middle Ages up until around the late 18th century across Europe Christian worshippers sacrificed huge quantities of their money to glorify the Christian God by elaborately decorating their churches. This sacrifice meant that they were seen to be more pious in an age when piety was seen as a far greater asset in the upper classes. Their legacy lived on in the plaques and tombs within these great buildings and their wealth, as perceived by all the church goers, was shown and would allow them to change their class.
In many countries at some point in time, a dominant religion has been fully embraced by the leader and thus has become a part of the law. The leader then compels the rest of society to be a member of this religion and thus sacrifice to this deity, those who will not are persecuted by religious police. An example of this would be the Spanish inquisition, or more lately the Taliban's religious police. The impetus for sacrifice in this case is self-preservation so as not to be tortured and executed. This is fortunately not a common state of affairs within the modern world, so may be largely ignored, and thus noted only to provide a full picture of personal reasons for sacrifice throughout the ages.
Having now explored the reasons for sacrifices to be made it is necessary to consider what sacrifice is to be made. If those with the strongest beliefs wish to make the biggest and most valuable sacrifices to best please their deity (for the present less faithful reasons for sacrifice are ignored for simplicity) they must ensure that they sacrifice something exceptionally special to them. Supposing that humans believe, however arrogantly, that they are the most intelligent and highly evolved species (or are the only one made in God's image) in the universe then surely, their greatest sacrifice would be one of their species. Human sacrifices in an age in which humanity claims to be civilized is an unpopular idea but to the ancients, who we assume were less refined (enlightened?), such a great act of devotion showed they had a greater respect and love for their deity than for themselves and the continuance of their species. Such faith should not immediately lead to their being categorized as heathen, recall that faith in a deity may be what it takes for such to really exist. As the world increasingly becomes more multicultural and tolerant to think, that sacrifices of animals or humans are in some way "evil", or at best illegal or sacrilegious may be an enduring form of intolerance. If there are meanings behind these sacrifices and they are a form of religious expression, do non-believers have any more right to suppress these views than to ban mosques, churches or Hindu temples?