Shaykh Ibn al Qayyim, rahimahullaah: 

If it is difficult for them to abandon sins, he should then strive to get them to love Allah by reminding them of His signs, blessings, kindness, perfection, and Loftiness. This is because the hearts are naturally designed to love Him, and if they become attached to loving Him, it then becomes extremely easy to abandon sins and to detach oneself from them.

Yahya bin Mu'adh said: "The intelligent one seeking the dunya is better than the ignorant one abandoning it."

The smart one calls the people to Allah from their dunya, and this makes it easier for them to respond to him. The zahid calls them to Allah by way of abandoning the dunya, and this makes it hard for them to respond, since it is very hard to pull someone away from the breast that he has developed his mind while suckling on..."

[al-Fawa'id p. 233-234]