For comparison between two times use time.Sub()
// utc life
loc, _ := time.LoadLocation("UTC")
// setup a start and end time
createdAt := time.Now().In(loc).Add(1 * time.Hour)
expiresAt := time.Now().In(loc).Add(4 * time.Hour)
// get the diff
diff := expiresAt.Sub(createdAt)
fmt.Printf("Lifespan is %+v", diff)
The program outputs:
Lifespan is 3h0m0s