Every day around the world, the words “I love you” are spoken billions of times, and it is easy to see why, once you look at how much love dominates our culture. Of the millions of books published worldwide each year, 62.5% have love as a central theme, and roughly half of all major movies and songs released globally center on love as well. Psychiatrists and psychologists have found that among our greatest human needs are to be wanted, needed, and loved and that people who feel loved carry a 50% lower risk of depression. But no one knows more about love than the God who created it, and no author in Scripture wrote about love more than the apostle John, who used the word 85 times and gave us the most famous three words on the subject: “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16, ESV). John now turns from our love for God to God’s love for us, showing us four ways we can know that love is real.

In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California. By 1849, more than 100,000 prospectors had flooded the state, hoping to strike it rich. Many of these inexperienced miners were badly fooled when they mistook pyrite for real gold. It shined. It sparkled. It looked valuable. But it was not gold, so it earned the name “fool’s gold.” To tell the difference, prospectors learned to test it: Real gold dents when you bite it or press it with a knife, while pyrite cracks. Real gold leaves a yellow streak when rubbed on porcelain, while pyrite leaves a black one.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Love is the most powerful force in the universe,” and that is true, not just because he said it, but because Jesus said the same thing in God’s Word when He gave us the two greatest commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. If everyone truly loved this way, we would not need jails, weapons, or courts, because love never fails.

There is a message that needs to be shouted from the rooftops to every man and woman between the ages of 21 and 30: Grow up. In 1960, 66% of men and 77% of women had hit all five traditional adulthood milestones by age 30—leaving home, getting formal schooling, marrying, having a child, and gaining financial independence. By 2010, only 28% of men and 39% of women had done the same, and by 2026 that number is expected to fall to somewhere between 15 and 25%.

The Cleveland Clinic is ranked the #2 hospital in the world, renowned for cardiology and heart surgery. Imagine going there with a serious heart issue—you’d have brilliant surgeons, skilled nurses, advanced imaging, and the best care available. But the most important part of that hospital isn’t what you see; it’s what you don’t see: the power plant. No matter how great the surgeons or how advanced the equipment, if the power plant fails, nothing can be done. The hospital becomes no more valuable than a cabin in the woods.

Ever wondered the secret to marriages that last 60 years? I heard about an elderly couple celebrating their diamond anniversary who shared their story: On their honeymoon at the Grand Canyon, the wife’s mule stumbled, and she said calmly to the animal, “That’s once.” When it stumbled again, she said, “That’s twice.” The third time, she got off and shot the mule right between the eyes. When her husband asked why, she looked him in the eyes and said, “That’s once”—and they never had another major disagreement! While there’s humor in that story, the truth is that God desires for everyone who gets married to truly live happily ever after. When two people get married, it’s God’s will for that marriage to be a happy union instead of a civil war. He wants every marriage to end in celebration, not separation, enjoying marriage, not enduring it. That’s why God’s Word gives us a marriage example through an old love song: It’s King Solomon’s Song of Songs. In this book, you find the four essential keys to building a marriage that lasts.

I heard a story about a daughter who wrote her dad about marrying someone she met online: “We met on eHarmony, became friends on Facebook, had long chats on WhatsApp. He proposed on Zoom.” Her dad replied, “I suggest you two get married on X, have fun on Tango, buy your kids on Amazon, and, when you get fed up with this new husband, just sell him on eBay.” There are lots of views today on what marriage is, but the one opinion that should really matter is that of the One who invented marriage—Jesus. Even though Jesus was single and never married, He knew more about marriage than any marriage counselor because marriage was His idea. When the Pharisees asked Him about divorce, Jesus didn’t answer their question about how to get out of marriage. Instead, He explained why you should stay in marriage. In one simple but unbelievably strong sentence, Jesus taught that in marriage math, 1 + 1 = 1. In this passage, Jesus outlined the three principles you need to guard what God has established and, in doing so, fulfill His purpose in your life.

What if finding the right person to marry isn’t actually the secret to a happy marriage? Everyone wants a fairy-tale marriage, but it’s a tragedy when fairy tales turn into horror stories because we misplace our expectations. The real problem is this: Every person wanting to get married is looking for the right person, but it will do you no good to find the right person if you are not the right person to be married to. That’s why every marriage should begin with not just a husband and wife, but a godly husband and a godly wife. A marriage made in Heaven begins with a spouse given by Heaven. Learn the three specific things every heavenly-given husband must do for his wife to create a marriage that truly is happily ever after.