Modern Partnerships: Marriage in Today’s Culture

Are more couples moving away from the traditional model of marriage and towards a partnership?

In our experience, the ways individual couples function is something that is completely unique to every couple. This isn’t necessarily in the traditional or theological sense; rather, it’s about the dynamic that each couple settles on that works best for them.

In today’s video, we’re discussing different relationship dynamics, and how couples tend to settle on whatever works best for them.


Through third-party research and our own observation, we’ve seen three common relationship models:

  • The peer marriage, where the spouses are partners who divvy up responsibilities and are very stable and loving;
  • The traditional marriage, which places each spouse in a very defined role; spouses are different from one another, yet still stable and happy;
  • The near-peer marriage, where the couple’s ideal is to be peers, but they don’t quite have it worked out yet.

In some marriages, one spouse might be more dominant than the other, in terms of personality, and that’s okay. In other marriages, both spouses may have dominant personalities. Either way, spouses tend to work out ways of functioning effectively together. You and your husband or wife can be two very different people, who nevertheless manage to create harmony and deep, lifelong love in your marriage.

We love to see marriages where it’s clear that the partnership is heavily influenced by the spouses’ personalities, unique skills, and individual gifts. These relationships are beautifully representative of not only the two individuals in the marriage, but the remarkable union they’re created by combining the essence of who each of them is.

What about you? How have you and your spouse chosen to function as a couple? We’d love to hear from you!

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