Defining the shirk of love

Question:
What is meant by the shirk of love that we hear about so often?

Answer:
The shirk of love is like what is in the saying of Allah the Exalted: The shirk of love is like the love of the people of idols for their idols. This is the shirk of love: the love that is worship. For love includes natural love, such as a person’s love for wealth, for a child, or for a wife. This is natural love for which one is not held accountable; it is innate and instinctive in a person. He loves wealth meaning wealth, because of its intensity. He is not blamed for this unless he makes his love for it greater than his love for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. He said: “Say, if your fathers, your sons, your wives, your clans, your wealth that you fear may be lost, your trade that you fear may decline, and your dwellings that you are fond of are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until Allah brings His command.”
So Allah did not blame them for loving these things, but He blamed them for making them more beloved to them than Allah and His Messenger, and for their striving. They cite this as evidence.