ROI of Love

Are you actually close to God—or have you simply become familiar with Him?

In this episode of ROI of Love, LaLa Love explores the difference between knowing about God and actually having a relationship with Him. Because it is possible to know the Bible verses, listen to the sermons, sing the worship songs, follow Christian creators, and become deeply familiar with the things of God… while never stopping to ask whether all of that information is actually leading us into a deeper walk with Him.

We look at Jesus’ words in John 5, where He confronts people who diligently studied Scripture yet were still missing the One those Scriptures were pointing toward. They weren’t lacking information. They were missing the relationship the information was meant to lead them into. And that raises a much more personal question: How much of what we call our relationship with God comes from actually knowing Him—and how much comes from simply knowing things about Him?

The conversation gets even more personal when faith stops being theory. What happens when life doesn’t go the way you prayed it would? When the answer is no? When God feels quiet? When you’re sitting in your car trying to pull yourself together before walking into the house? Psalm 139 reminds us that God already knows the unpolished version of us—the thoughts, the questions, the anger, the grief, and even the words before we say them. Which means prayer does not have to become another performance. God isn’t asking us to impress Him. He already knows us.

We also talk about why prayer matters if God already knows everything, and why honest conversation is part of relationship even when no new information is being exchanged. Then we look at Jesus’ picture of the vine and branches in John 15: relationship requires connection. A branch cannot occasionally check in with the vine and expect to thrive. It remains. It stays connected. And our spiritual lives were never meant to survive on occasional contact with God either.

But what if you are praying, reading Scripture, going to church, and genuinely trying—and God still feels far away? Spiritual dryness does not automatically mean spiritual failure. In Psalm 13, David openly asks how long God will hide His face from him. Sometimes faith looks like continuing to reach for God even when you do not feel the closeness you wish you did.

Ultimately, this episode asks one question:

What do you know about God because you have actually walked with Him?

Not only what someone taught you.

What have you learned about His character through your own prayers, your own disappointments, your own questions, and your own history with Him?

This week’s practice:
Choose one small move from familiarity toward relationship. Spend ten honest minutes with God. Pray something you have been afraid to say. Sit quietly. Open Scripture and ask, “What are You showing me here?” Or instead of only asking, “God, fix this,” ask, “God, how do You want me to walk with You through this?”

Scripture referenced:

• John 5:39–40

• Psalm 139:1–4, 13–16

• John 15:4–5

• Psalm 13:1–2

Want to read deeper into this episode and revisit the key ideas?
Visit the ROI of Love episode page for more reflection, Scripture, and takeaways from the conversation.

If this episode made you think of someone who may be doing all the “right” Christian things but still longing for a deeper relationship with God, send this episode to them.

And follow ROI of Love wherever you listen so we can stay connected and keep the conversation going.

Love well. And invest wisely.

Why can you be surrounded by people, needed by everyone, and still feel disconnected?

In this episode of ROI of Love, LaLa Love looks at the kind of loneliness that can hide inside a busy, high-functioning life—the kind where your phone is full, people depend on you, and you seem deeply woven into everyone else’s world… but very few people have access to yours. Because being useful, admired, included, and constantly reachable is not the same thing as being deeply known.

We dig into what intimacy actually requires beyond physical closeness: curiosity, honesty, trust, emotional safety, attentive listening, and the courage to let someone meet the version of you that hasn’t been polished for public consumption. We also talk about why being known can feel risky—especially when you’re afraid your needs will make you seem difficult, needy, inconvenient, or less lovable—and why sometimes the people who love us simply cannot know the parts of us we’ve never let them see.

Then we look at the ways we avoid that ache altogether: staying useful, chasing achievement, doom-scrolling, filling every quiet space, and surrounding ourselves with constant contact that looks like connection from the outside. Technology can help us reach almost anyone—but a faster internet connection still can’t create the kind of intimacy that requires us to slow down, stay present, ask the second question, and actually enter another person’s world.

And before the episode closes, the conversation turns toward an even deeper question: Can we make the same mistake with God—remaining close to Christianity while becoming relationally distant from Christ?

This week’s practice:
Think of one person you genuinely care about whom you may have been keeping up with more than actually connecting with. Ask the second question. Stay on the phone a little longer. Put yours down when they’re sitting across from you. Make a little room to actually know them—and give them a little more access to knowing you, too.

Scripture referenced:

• Proverbs 20:5
• Romans 12:15
• 1 Corinthians 13:12

Ready to see where your time and attention are actually going?
Get the free Time & Priority Audit and start getting honest about what is receiving the best of you—and whether it matches what you say matters most.
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Want to read deeper into this episode and revisit the key ideas?
Read the Episode 7 companion article

If this episode made you think of someone, send it to them. And follow ROI of Love wherever you listen so we can stay connected and keep the conversation going.

Love fully. And invest wisely.

What if loneliness has less to do with being alone—and more to do with a lack of intimacy?

In this episode of ROI of Love, LaLa Love explores why you can be surrounded by people, busy all day, constantly connected through texts, work, family, and social media—and still feel deeply lonely.

After a friend told her, “You know what your problem is? You’re lonely,” LaLa initially dismissed the idea. She wasn’t alone. There were people everywhere.

But that was the problem.

We often confuse proximity with connection, contact with intimacy, and knowing about someone with actually knowing them.

In this episode, LaLa unpacks the difference between loneliness and solitude, why relationships can feel emotionally distant even when two people share the same home, and why simply adding more people, more activity, or more conversation may not solve the loneliness we feel.

Because being around someone tells you where their body is.

It doesn’t necessarily tell you where their heart is.

And you cannot fix a lack of intimacy simply by increasing proximity.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why do I feel lonely when I’m not alone?”, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen as we explore loneliness, emotional intimacy, connection, relationships, and what it really means to feel seen, known, and understood.

Love deeply. Invest wisely. Live on purpose.

Want to see what your life is actually making room for?

Take the free Time & Priority Audit at ROIof.Love.

Why do you somehow have time for everything except the things you keep saying matter most?

You made room for all the meetings, the deadlines, and seventeen other things that apparently could not survive without you.

But somehow, the people, relationships, and things you say matter most keep getting whatever time and energy you have left.

In this episode of ROI of Love, we take an honest look at the gap between what we say matters to us and what our lives are actually making room for. Through one completely ordinary comment that got under my skin, moved into my head rent-free, and apparently brought conviction along as its roommate, we explore how our calendars, habits, spending, relationships, environments, and attention can tell a very different story about what matters to us than the one we would tell about ourselves.

We also talk about modern idolatry, and why idols today don’t usually look like golden calves or stone statues. Sometimes they look remarkably respectable: a successful career, money, achievement, being needed, being admired, control, or good things that have quietly started occupying a place they were never meant to hold.

Because we don’t always bow to idols anymore.

Sometimes, we schedule them.

This week’s practice: Look at the evidence of your actual life, not the life you intended to live. What keeps receiving your best time, attention, energy, and sacrifice? And does the life reflected there look like the life you thought you were building?

Scripture referenced: Luke 12:34 | Philippians 3:19 | Jeremiah 2:13

Want to see what your own life is making room for?

Take the free ROI of Love Time & Priority Audit:
https://roiof.love/time-audit/

Set aside about 20 quiet minutes and answer as the person who actually lived the week—not the person who meant to.

Visit ROIof.Love and follow ROI of Love wherever you’re listening so we can stay connected and keep the conversation going.

Love Well & Invest Wisely.

Why can an empty afternoon make you feel lazy or guilty—even when you know you need the rest?

In this episode of ROI of Love, we explore leisure guilt, productivity guilt, over-responsibility, self-worth, and the hidden performance trap that can form when being capable becomes part of your identity. We talk about why people can struggle to rest, why receiving help can feel strangely uncomfortable, and what happens when being useful stops being something you do and starts becoming proof of who you are.

Through Martha’s story in Luke 10, Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3, and His teaching about the vine and branches in John 15, we look at the difference between working from a secure identity and working to earn one.

This week’s practice: Pay attention to the moments when resting, saying no, accepting help, or letting someone else handle something makes you uncomfortable. Ask yourself: What am I afraid this says about me if I don’t do it?

Scripture referenced: Luke 10:38–42 | Matthew 3:13–17 | Luke 12:15 | John 15:1–8

Continue the conversation: Visit ROIof.Love and follow ROI of Love wherever you’re listening so you don’t miss the next episode, where we’ll go deeper into the difference between who we believe ourselves to be and what our lives may actually be communicating.

Love well. Invest wisely.

Do your daily priorities actually reflect what you say you value? If someone followed you for thirty days—watching how you spend your time, where your attention goes, and what receives your best energy—would they conclude that your faith, family, relationships, health and peace really matter most?

In this episode of ROI of Love, we explore time, attention, priorities, personal values, productivity, and life alignment—and the uncomfortable gap between our aspirational values and our functional values: the life we intend to build versus the one our repeated choices are actually constructing. We talk about fragmented attention, the priorities our patterns reveal, and Haggai’s call to “give careful thought to your ways.”

This week’s practice: Choose one value you say matters most to you and make it visible in one intentional choice.

Scripture referenced:Matthew 6:21Haggai 1:4–61 John 3:18

Continue the conversation: Visit ROIof.Love and follow ROI of Love wherever you’re listening so you don’t miss the next episode, where we’ll go deeper into why knowing what matters and living like it matters are not always the same thing.

Love well. Invest wisely.

Have you ever hit a milestone and felt strangely alone afterward? You climbed. You leveled up. You finally entered the room you worked years to get into. And then… it got quiet. Most high achievers look at that silence and call it the penthouse experience. In Episode 2 of ROI of Love, we're calling it what it actually is — a lie we inherited from people offering a broken blueprint.

LaLa Love breaks down the psychology behind leadership loneliness — why high performers drift into isolation — and why the most successful people on earth, including the richest man in the world, are publicly confirming that wealth can't manufacture what connection was always meant to provide. With truth from Proverbs, Exodus, Ruth, and the leadership model of Jesus, this episode shows you that building together was always the blueprint — and that you were never meant to be strongest alone.

If you've been the strong one in every room for so long you've forgotten what it feels like to be held — this episode is for you. Walk away with 5 practical moves to recalibrate your relational architecture and an honest answer to the question: is loneliness really the cost of success?

Continue the conversation at ROIof.Love.

Love well. Invest wisely.

If you’re like most high performers, your first answer probably comes with a price tag, your career, your income, your achievements, the life you’ve built on paper.

This first episode of ROI of Love explores what happens when we become incredibly disciplined about investing in success, but careless with the things that actually sustain us. The cost doesn’t always show up immediately. It shows up under pressure, in stress, in fractured relationships, and in the quiet realization that something foundational has been neglected.

This podcast exists because Laura Lovell started asking different questions, and now she’s inviting you to ask them too.

Not to abandon ambition.Not to romanticize feelings.But to examine where your time, energy, and presence are really going, and whether the return is worth the investment.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re winning on paper while your personal life feels disconnected, this conversation is for you.