From This Day Forward: Making Your Vows Last a Lifetime Book

Every aspect of the wedding ceremony, from the candles to the vows, reflects God’s incredible love relationship with His people–and His ideal design for marriage. Yet amid all the planning and preparations, we often miss the underlying meaning and beauty of the ceremony.

To help you more fully enter into the exquisite wonder of the wedding day, From This Day Forward offers a unique look at the truths symbolized by each element of the traditional marriage ceremony, including
·the lighting of the unity candle
·the entrance of the groom and his men
·the presentation of the rings and flowers
·the giving away of the bride
·the exchanging of vows
·the presence of witnesses

From This Day Forward will open your eyes to the spiritual importance of the wedding ceremony as a beautiful expression of God’s love–and of His divine design for marriage.


The wedding ceremony signifies so much more than a commitment between two individuals; it’s a living portrait of God’s love for His people. The whole drama of God’s love and plan for all of us is represented in the rites of the traditional wedding ceremony and the daily experience of marriage.

God designed marriage to reveal His love relationship with His people, His bride. When others look at an excellent marriage they see a husband gladly setting aside his own desires to care for his beloved, just as Christ abandoned His life for all of us. And they see a wife who, having taken on her husband’s name and calling, loves to please him and spend time in his presence, just as believers in Christ respond eagerly to God.

When your eyes are open to these realities, your marriage–and your relationship with God–will shine with the wonder of this divine romance.

From This Day Forward beckons you into a joyful celebration of the wedding ceremony and marriage relationship as you embark on the everyday adventure of love as God designed it to be.


Ted Haggard is senior pastor of the 11,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, which he founded in 1985. The author of ten books, he is a well-respected leader who currently serves as president of the National Association for Evangelicals and as a spokesperson for the Presidential Prayer Team. Ted and his wife, Gayle, have been married for twenty-seven years and are the parents of five children.