The Quran and the Hadith repeatedly say that a person should have a relationship of love with his Creator. 
The most powerful human emotion is that of love. This powerful emotion is meant only for God. 
The Quran says: "Yet there are some who set up equals with God and adore them with the adoration due to God, but those who believe love God most." (2:165)
Believers love God most. According to the dictionary, love means strong affection. 

For whom does one have strong affection?
It is with one from whom a person receives favours unilaterally, without the need for payment. For example, whatever you receive from your mother is given on a unilateral basis. You do not have to pay any price for it. This is why you develop love for your mother. But the Being who gives us infinitely more is God. God gives us a billion trillion times more than what our mother gives us. This is why a person must have the greatest love for God. God has placed the emotion of love in every human being. No one needs to tell you to love someone. 
"Believers love God most" does not mean that you need to be told to love God. You are not told to love your mother, rather it comes naturally. Similarly, to have love of God does not mean that this fact is written somewhere, and after you read it, you would realize that you need to indeed love God. Rather, the strong emotion of love is already present in every human being. 
The question is who should be the object of this strong feeling of love?
There are no two ways in this matter: there is a true object of love and a false object of love.  The real question is who should be the right object of the natural emotion of love found in every person? God is the true object of our strong emotion of love. Anything or anyone other than God is a false object of love. We need to understand who is the true object of love and who is a false object of love.