Peace,and holiness

      In looking up verses on peace, I found two that kind of jumped out at me. Hebrews 12:14, and  1 Thess. 5:23. What struck me was how holiness and peace are linked together in these verses.
     In 1 thessalonians, we see God as the one who sanctifies. Many other passages bring out this fact as well. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers, to draw them and teach them how to walk in holiness. In simple terms, holiness is separation from living for oneself, to living for God. The Holy Spirit works in us to produce this life. We also see verses that tell us to separate ourselves, command us to be holy, verses that call to obedience. We must, on our part, yield to the will of God. As the Spirit teaches us how to live, we must obey. Without a sincere yielding on our part there is no walking in holiness, no holy life being lived, in short we are not holy.
     The thought that came to me as I contemplated these verses was this. If God, who here is called the God of peace, is the one who sanctifies us, and if we are pursuing a holy life, shouldn't our lives be filled with peace? The peace that I am thinking of here is the peace that comes from getting along with one another. God is not going to lead us into quarreling, envy, strife, dishonesty, etc. instead He leads us in the path of love, forgiveness, self sacrifice. If we are living selfishly, at odds with our neighbors, mad at each other, not getting along with one another at church, then we are not holy! We are selfish! We are on the throne instead of God! This idea is brought out in Galatians 5:16-25. Two lifeslyles are contrasted. The life lived for self, and the life lived for God. One is full of sin and destruction, the other full of love and life!  Let's follow the God of peace, as He perfects us!