We need to change the label we use for our standard of marriage. 

I just read an article that at heart said so-called traditional marriage isn’t traditional at all. It was portly written, used cherry picked examples, provided no support for its points, and ‘destroyed’ straw man arguments.

In spite of all that, the article was right in one point;

Traditional marriage isn’t traditional.

When we use the term ‘traditional marriage’ we usually mean a marriage built on Christian principles.

So from now on let’s use the term Biblical Marriage. But what exactly is a biblical marriage? It has three characteristics:

1. Both husband and wife are sold out, bible believing, followers of Christ. 
2. The husband chooses to love his wife as Christ loves the Church, willing to set aside his own needs and desires in favor of her, placing her and the marriage ahead of himself. 
3. The wife places herself under the leadership of her husband  ‘as unto the Lord’. She respects and supports him in his godly decisions, even if she disagrees, knowing that he must answer to God.

It really is that simple… and that difficult. 

May God strengthen and guide you in all you say and do.

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself

Eph 5:21-28 ESV