What is love, in Malay or Arabic, but what is worship? Worship and love are not the same. Surely, it is not sinful, nor wrong to love someone other than Allah, but it is extremely sinful and extremely wrong to worship someone other than Allah. Allah created us to worship Him. And in Arabic, worship is "ain-ba-dal" or contains "ain-ba-dal", but so is slave, therefore?
To worship means to humble oneself as slave. If there is a slave, then there is a lord. And a king, as is a master, is a lord over those he rules. So? Realize that accepting as lord, more so accepting as king, is worshiping. And do realize that one who worships other than Allah is a Kafir, (therefore, not a Muslim) according to verse 1 to 3 of surah Kafirun.
Worshiping other than Allah, not loving other than Allah, is committing shirk (treason or sedition or disloyalty) against Allah, Him, lord of humans, king of humans, god of humans. Surely, Allah has right as lord and as king over His creations, including us. And we should be loyal to one who has the right as our lord. Allah is our creator, our lord, our king, our god. The opposite of shirk is tauhid (tawheed), which has to do with the number 1. And the Freewill is not what to follow.
Who would like you to take or accept other than Allah as your king or as your lord? Is it not Iblis or satans? Surely, not Allah, nor any Rasulullah. Remember, if you have other than Allah as your king or as your lord, then you are one who worships other than Allah, and you are a Kafir, also a Mushrik, najis (spiritually filthy), and yes, you are "giving partner" to Allah.
