Old Fashioned Marriage Starts with a Vow

Once upon a time, marriage started with vows that went something like this:

I, [the groom] , take you, [the bride], to be my wife,
to have and to hold from this day forward;
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law.
I, [the bride] , take you, [the groom], to be my husband,
to have and to hold from this day forward;
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love, cherish, and obey, till death us do part, according to God's holy law.

Couples entered the marriage knowing how binding their promise would be. Their vows left no backdoors for divorce if the going got tough. When you married, you committed yourself wholeheartedly to staying together until your partner died. Husbands took on the responsibility to love, protect, guide and lead their wives. Wives accepted the responsibility to love and honor their husbands, and agreed to express this honor through their submission to their husbands' authority. Is marriage with this level of commitment still possible in our modern society? Can couples of all ages have old fashioned marriages that don't stifle them? How do modern wives get their husbands to take the lead in the home? How to modern husbands get their wives to submit to them? Do marriages with gender-specific roles really work? We're on a journey to find those answers. Join us as we explore the mystery of the old fashioned marriage that works.