Old Testament #1

Joseph Smith taught us about why Cain's "offering" wasn't accepted by the Lord. It wasn't accepted because a true sacrifice is done in imitation or similitude to the sacrifice that Christ made for our sins. We make sacrifices so that we can remember what he did for us and to show that we are willing to sacrifice something that is important to us in order to prove our faith and respect and gratitude to the Lord for the Atonement. Cain was not doing this when he made his sacrifices before he was eventually led to kill Abel. He was being dragged down by Satan, communicating and directly allowing Satan to lead him to hell. That life of sin was not conducive to a righteous sacrifice like the Lord accepts from us. He knew that Cain wasn't making that sacrifice for a righteous reason and was only doing because Satan told him to, it was fake and meaningless so it wasn't accepted. It was a form of sin as well, just like all the other sins that he was committing.

There are all kinds of "sacrifices" that church members today make that don't really count. People say that they are sacrificing for their families, when they spend all their time working and focusing on things that don't have much importance. That is a sacrifice, it's a sacrifice of the important things in life. It's also a way to sacrifice our eternal salvation because the time, heart, pain, tears, love and joy that comes from putting your whole self into a family and those relationships is what makes our celestial glory and salvation a reality.