The greatest virtue of repentance and seeking forgiveness is earning Allahs love.

Allah says:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوّابينَ وَيُحِبُّ المُتَطَهِّرينَ

Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves. (Surat Al-Baqarah:222)

When we want to follow the advice of the Prophet ﷺ regarding selecting a spouse to choose the righteous one, many people get fooled by the outward appearance of a potential spouse whether it be their prayers, the thobe, the beard, the hijab, how active they are in the masjid etc, then they complain after they realise he/she was a devil in disguise. Rather, to truly know if someone is righteous we must look at their character to see if the deeds they are performing has fulfilled their purpose and objectives, and that objective is good moral character in all it's dimensions. 

That is why the Prophet ﷺ also said ❝Verily I have only been sent to perfect good moral character❞. Meaning all the prayers and all of the fasting and all of the good deeds must bring about good moral character otherwise there is something wrong with those good deeds being performed or the one performing them. 

This is the true meaning of the verse: ❝Verily the prayers prevent all evil and immoral deeds❞

Umar bin al Khattab said: ❝Do not let the prayer of a man deceive you nor his fasting. Rather look at the truthfulness of his speech, his trustworthiness whenever he is entrusted, and how he acts whenever he is given wealth and/or power.❞

And the first of all people who are worthy of our best treatment and good character is our households, spouses, parents, children etc. It's easy to put on a fake show to all other people because time with them is limited while those in our household see who we truly are. 

Before you get married do your homework, learn about red flags, pray istikhara and don't be hasty.