[3] Tremonti recalls in a 2024 interview with Spin that "My Sacrifice" was one of the earliest songs the band wrote for the Weathered album.

[5][6][7] Stapp stated that the meaning of the song lyrics was about his own personal struggles with battling substance abuse, addiction and alcoholism and failing despite his best efforts, and him coming to terms with his inability to stay on the straight and narrow.

These include a shot of himself in a rowboat where he is seen pulling a drowning version of himself out of the water onto the boat, which represents periods of his life where he would claim sobriety, coming out from the darkness and finding temporary clarity, only to fall back into his old habits.

The video begins in a park with an old, seemingly blind man, portrayed by actor Herbert Maynard, feeding pigeons before the camera pans into his mind, showing flashbacks of a flooding city, where members of the band perform, while Scott Stapp sings in a rowboat.

During the bridge, the band performs in a school bus illuminated by candles, followed by Stapp in a diner while a young boy, portrayed by actor Kellen Foruria, hides from a storm.

After a baby carriage slams into the diner window, the harsh weather seen throughout the video dies down to a peaceful, sunny setting, and the boy goes to hug the older Scott, but loses his eyesight.

[12] The song would peak at number four on the issue of February 9, 2002—the band's second-highest-charting single on the Hot 100 after their only number-one hit, "With Arms Wide Open"—and would remain on the chart for 29 weeks.

[14] The song would also go on to top the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for nine consecutive weeks starting in December 2001.

[23] The song was played as part of a medley which also included "Don't Stop Dancing" and "Higher" during the bands performance at the halftime show at the 2001 Dallas Cowboys' annual Thanksgiving Day football game on November 22, 2001.

[27][28] On September 16, 2014, "My Sacrifice" was made available as downloadable content for the video game Rocksmith 2014, along with "Higher", "My Own Prison", "One Last Breath" and "With Arms Wide Open" as part of the "Creed 5-Song Pack".