Paul writes to the Corinthians “you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” It is our goal to be the same, to show the character of Christ in our lives to the extent that people can read us like they would a letter from Christ, to see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”
Paul goes on to describe how accomplishing this would be difficult and painful, but he also encourages his readers with the idea “that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”