The main question I want to answer is this: How do we love God? If the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we ought to have a really clear idea of what loving God looks like. I believe this is where having fellow humans (especially brothers and sisters in Christ) becomes more essential than we often think.
In Matthew's depiction of the final judgment, the reason believers receive salvation is because of their love and service toward the saints, which Christ equates to loving and serving himself (Matt 25:31-40). I believe that truly loving fellow humans is at the heart of loving God and growing in a love for God.
1 John 1:12 poses a dilemma. "No one has ever seen God." While it's not impossible to find ways to love a God whom you've never seen (e.g. prayer, Bible reading, meditation), it's not at all easy. This is why God gives us family and friends. Loving one another is like a crutch, or a significant handicap, aiding us in our love and devotion to God and allowing us to live more faithfully. In other words, I believe the first and greatest commandment is largely fulfilled by faithfulness to the second commandment. While solitary devotion to God through prayer and reading the word are essential, the act of loving other people is also a huge means by which we love God. For this reason John says, "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12). It's through the love we share with other humans that God abides in us and perfects his love in us.
So don't undermine the value of human relationships. If you want to express your love to God and expand your love for God, your interactions with other people are essential. After all, you aren't truly loving God if your spending all of your time being a jerk toward other people. "Whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 4:21).
Also, God uses your family, friends, classmates, roommates, and fellow church members not just to express your love to him, but to expand your love for him. I've spent hours reading, studying, and memorizing the book of 1 John. But the moment I was moved to tears by realizing God's love for me was when I was holding a 6 week old baby. All I could think about was how much I would do to keep that baby safe from harm and make sure he had everything he needed. When the realization came that God loves me even more than I cared for that child, I hit the breaking point. The love we feel toward others teaches us about the love that God has for us. When we allow ourselves to grow closer to others, to feel more deeply toward them, and to care for them in a more significant way, we are not separating ourselves from God by drawing closer to another. Rather we are drawing closer to God by expanding our hearts for him and for others.
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