Personality Competence of Christian Religious Education Teachers in Confronting Suffering with Faith: A Case Study Based on Genesis 40:14 at SD Eka Tjipta Sungai Nusa

Abstract

This study explores the role of the personality competence of Christian Religious Education (CRE) teachers in helping students confront suffering with faith, grounded in the theological perspective of Genesis 40:14. The research was conducted at SD Eka Tjipta Sungai Nusa, involving four Christian students and three Christian teachers, including one CRE teacher. Employing a qualitative case study design integrated with a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), data were collected through simple semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, supported by a systematic analysis of scholarly literature on teacher personality competence, Christian education, and the theology of suffering. Data were analyzed thematically to identify patterns of teacher personality expression, faith transmission, and student spiritual responses to suffering. The findings reveal that the CRE teacher’s personality competence-expressed through emotional stability, spiritual integrity, empathy, patience, self-control, and consistent moral example-plays a decisive role in shaping students’ understanding of suffering through a faith-based perspective. The narrative of Joseph in Genesis 40:14 provides a theological framework that enables students to interpret hardship not as abandonment by God but as a space for hope, trust, and perseverance. This study contributes theoretically by integrating Old Testament theology of suffering with contemporary discourse on teacher personality competence, and practically by offering insights for CRE teachers serving in minority-Christian and resource-limited contexts. It affirms that personality competence is a central formative instrument in nurturing resilient, faith-grounded Christian students.