For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15
The Claim: 1 John 2:15 says not to love the world, but in John 3:16, God loved the world, and the Bible also says to love the world the way God does.
The Explanation: The issue at hand is how “the world” is being defined. In John 3:16, God is talking about the people when he’s talking about the world, which is indicated by the words “whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” 1 John 2:15 is missing the context of the following verses, so let’s start by putting things in context.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17
So in 1 John 2:15, “the world” is not referring to the people, but the desires of the flesh and pride in material things. What are the desires of the flesh?
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are lead by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:16-21
So in conclusion, God loves the people, and we should love the people. We should not love the material things of the world or the desires of the flesh such as jealousy and sexual immorality. 1 John says nothing to the effect that we should stop loving people. There is no contradiction.