I think understanding music theory and knowing how the guitar works has definitely helped me improve a lot. From a music education standpoint I feel like you need to know what you're doing in order to do it, but there's a lot of musicians (guitarists, mostly) who will prove me wrong by outperforming me while not having an idea what they're doing (hyperbole, the last part
). Likewise, if your only goal is to simply play a few chords and songs and throw in a riff here or there, because you just want to have fun, there's no need to engage in a lot of music theory.
\If you want to write your own stuff, improvise a solo or have a general understand of why what you're doing sounds good or cool, then basic music theory knowledge can definitely help you. SO you'll have to ask yourself; why do I need to know how to play scales? What scales do you mean? You can get very far with knowing 'just' the pentatonic scales and how they are shaped on the fretboard, without even needing to know what the actual notes are you're playing. Guitar is easier in that regard than for example a piano, since the same scale in a different key can be played with the exact same fingering somewhere else on the fretboard. Then again, if you only learn a certain scale in one specific position, instead of everywhere on the neck, you're limiting yourself a little, but you gotta start somewhere!
I give you this though; rhythm is extremely important. I think having a sense of timing is key to play anything. Always practice with a metronome or by playing along to music to improve that, but eventually you'll need to feel that internally.
Setting goals for yourself helps, even if it's something small. Learn a new chord, learn an entire song, transcribe a solo by ear, write an hour of original music, you name it.
And practice daily; even if it's just for 5 minutes